From Anime Scene to Global Art Challenge: The Rise Of The Sailor Moon Redraw Meme
The Sailor Moon Redraw meme, sparked by a dramatic scene from the 1992 anime, has evolved into a global art challenge blending humor and creativity. This article traces its origins, explores its viral spread across platforms like Twitter and TikTok, and examines why it resonates with fans and artists.
From nostalgic appeal to cross-cultural participation, we dive into the meme’s funniest iterations, its role in anime art challenges, and its lasting impact on internet culture.
1. What Is the Sailor Moon Redraw Meme?
The Sailor Moon Redraw meme has emerged as a popular art challenge for fans, where creators draw a scene from the Sailor Moon anime in their own art style.
The frame chosen by all creators who have participated, Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon), is conspicuously pointing with determination on her face. It has become a drawing space for serious fan art and humorous versions of her and the pose.
The creator of the meme, who was not credited but coined on Twitter with the tag #SailorMoonRedraw, provided the opportunity for fan parody and still recreated the artistic version. This encouraged artists to embrace the spirit of a meme and parody while also showcasing their artistic abilities.
Is It a Meme, an Art Trend, or Both?
The Sailor Moon Redraw has aspects of both a meme, meaning it uses humor to demonstrate Usagi’s expression or place Usagi in funny, unreasonable representations, and clear artistic, meaning it showcases technical skill you’d expect, and therefore creators used a range of styles from hyperrealist to minimalist versions.
Know Your Meme pointed out that it’s unusual – as a meme it fits as a parody, but as an art challenge it fits as artistic, so it offered internet users serious or casual along with dedicated artists, engagement.
2. Where Did the Sailor Moon Redraw Meme Come From?
The meme’s roots lie in a memorable moment from the Sailor Moon anime, which provided the perfect template for creative reinterpretation.
The Anime Scene Behind the Meme
The redraw comes from Episode 22 of the original Sailor Moon anime (1992), called “The Power of Love! Luna’s Worst Day Ever.” In the scene, Usagi, transformed as Sailor Moon, is lunging forward with her arm and finger extended with a serious, determined expression, ready to face off against a villain.
With the emotional build-up of the scene leading to her extreme conflict with the villain and its clearly defined, pose (not an idle pose), it lends itself to reinterpretation well.
According to the Sailor Moon Wiki, this moment reflects Usagi’s determination, resonates with fans, and gives a frame for creativity and humour to flourish.
First Known Redraws
The challenge began in 2019 on Japanese social media sites like Twitter and Pixiv, where participants shared their redraws under hashtags like #원작장면_내_그림체로_그리기 (translated as “Original Scene in My Style”).
The original redraws seem to stick closely to the anime’s style and often focused more on creating slight variations in the original style.
A major moment in the memes initial spread on the challenge, occurred in July 2019, when Twitter user @O_NL44 posted a redraw or reinterpretation, which is the first recorded redraw and one of the more well-known examples of the) challenge and has been retweeted over 33,800 times.
Some of these earliest redraws appear to establish a conceptual framework for what came next and provide a temporal reference point to hold on to.
3. How the Meme Spread Across the Internet
The Sailor Moon Redraw meme snowballed into a global phenomenon, driven by social media and fan enthusiasm.
Twitter and Hashtag Explosion
In May of 2020, the hashtag #SailorMoonRedraw was trending globally on Twitter, and it started when a large number of Japanese artists began posting their interpretations.
Within a matter of days, the trend spread across continents with artists from both Western and Asian fandoms adding their own contributions. Examples by users like @Souryu_STD (90,500 likes) and @EddieHanTaiwan (111,100 likes) illustrated this meme’s traction.
The hashtag began to house all of the various interpretations of the sailor moon driving force meme as well as sliding in from professional illustration work to goofy parody work.
Cross-Platform Popularity
This meme expanded from Twitter and into Instagram, the r/Art subreddit of reddit, and the app TikTok.
In the case of Instagram, artists would post time- lapse videos of their redraw, while for TikTok, creators would show various clips of themselves creating the redraw while jamming out to the Sailor Moon Theme music (and received millions of views while doing it).
Further expanding engagement, Twitch and Youtube also streamed artists creating the redraw and communities of artists, like ArtStation, emphasized professional representations of the meme.
A Nerdist article also noted that DeviantArt also became a place for discussing, or showing off their redraw, which added additional platform dimensions to the meme.
4. Why the Sailor Moon Redraw Meme Works
The meme’s success lies in its accessibility and emotional pull, making it a perfect storm for viral art.
Simplicity of the Template
Another positive feature of the chosen scene is the clear pose of Usagi: Usagi is pointing with an exaggerated face. The usability of the template is evident in the ways artists can play with styles, backgrounds, or context while keeping the overall composition consistent.
Whether taking the time to create a detailed, expansive digital painting, or simply creating a quick MS Paint sketch, the template allows playful and serious interpretation.
Fandom Nostalgia Factor
Sailor Moon is a franchise phenomenon that has been loved by so many since the initial manga was released in 1991, and thus many artists’ references to nostalgia may cater to a few generations of fans.
The nostalgia factor in this redraw is effective on two levels, linking older fans, who will remember Yukino’s Usagi from when they were children themselves, with the younger audience who are just discovering Sailor Moon and discovering Usagi anew (thanks to streaming).
Hypebae noted in a previous article that the boredom of quarantine in the Spring 2020 opted people to delve back into their youth driven by nostalgia, which carried over into the fandom, with influenced fans narrowing their options to engage with childhood fandom favorites.
5. Funniest and Most Creative Sailor Moon Redraws
The meme’s versatility has produced a treasure trove of hilarious and innovative artworks.
Notable Artistic Twists
Artists have reimagined Usagi as Disney princesses like Ariel or Mulan, blending Sailor Moon with Western animation styles. Crossovers with anime like Attack on Titan (e.g., Annie as Sailor Moon) or games like League of Legends (Neeko in Usagi’s outfit) showcase fandom mashups.
Hyperrealistic redraws, like those by @Artgerm, add lifelike detail, while 3D sculptures and cosplays push the challenge into new mediums.
Comedic Interpretations
The meme’s humor shines in exaggerated or low-effort redraws. Some artists amplify Usagi’s expression to cartoonish levels, while others use MS Paint for deliberately crude sketches, poking fun at the challenge’s hype.
A Twitter post by @MikkuSushi, depicting Popeye as Sailor Moon, gained traction for its absurd humor. These playful takes keep the meme lighthearted and accessible.
6. How the Sailor Moon Redraw Became a Global Art Challenge
The meme transcended its origins to become a collaborative, inclusive art movement.
Inclusivity in Participation
Unlike some art challenges with strict rules, the Sailor Moon Redraw welcomes everyone. Beginners post simple sketches alongside professionals’ polished works, fostering a supportive environment. A DeMilked article highlights how this inclusivity drew thousands of participants, from hobbyists to industry veterans.
Collaboration and Community Engagement
Artists shared work-in-progress posts, tutorials, and feedback on platforms like Reddit and Instagram. Cross-cultural engagement flourished, with creators from Japan, the U.S., and beyond exchanging ideas. The challenge’s global reach, as noted in a ComicBook.com article, strengthened the Sailor Moon fandom’s sense of community.
Will the Sailor Moon Redraw Meme Stay Relevant?
Evergreen Nature of Art Challenges
The redrawie format is able to come back again, alongside new trends, reinventing things like Sailor Moon anniversaries or anime resurgences. Its pliability ensures the retention of what brought it into form, allowing artists to go back to it again, and provide new twists and approaches years later.
Legacy in Internet Culture
The Sailor Moon Redraw will forever be associated and become part of the canon of legendary memes based off anime, along with other formats like “Distracted Boyfriend,” and will continue to live on in fan art communities as a meme, with new redraws continuing to come out even today on sites like Pixiv.
The Sailor Moon Redraw’s semblance and legacy can be found in its continued ability to connect and bring artists and fans together from all over the world.
Conclusion
The Sailor Moon Redraw meme transformed a single anime frame into a global art phenomenon, blending humor, nostalgia, and creativity. From its 2019 origins on Japanese social media to its 2020 viral peak, it has captivated artists and fans with its inclusive, versatile format.
Whether through hilarious MS Paint sketches or stunning professional artworks, the challenge celebrates Sailor Moon’s enduring appeal. As long as anime and meme culture thrive, the Sailor Moon Redraw will remain a shining star in the internet’s creative cosmos.
